Campbell’s Bean and Bacon Soup

Campbell’s Bean and Bacon Soup

  • Prep Time: 12 hrs
  • Total Time: 15 hrs
  • Servings: 4-6
  • About This Recipe

    “You might have guessed this is a copycat recipe and it rocks if you like Bean and Bacon Soup. Serve with cornbread and honey or sleeves of saltine crackers. Prep time includes bean soaking time.”

    Ingredients

  • 2cupsnavy beans
  • water
  • 6slicesuncooked bacon, diced
  • 3smallcarrots, minced
  • 3stalkscelery, minced
  • 1onion, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoonthyme
  • 2 -4garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (4ounce) cans tomato paste
  • 1dashdried red pepper flakes
  • 6 -8cupswater( substituting 1 or 2 cups of ham stock for equal amount of water gives this soup extra depth)
  • 1teaspoonwine vinegar
  • 3dropsliquid smoke
  • salt and pepper
  • Directions

  • Soak beans overnight and discard water.
  • Place all ingredients EXCEPT wine vinegar, liquid smoke, salt and pepper in a large kettle.
  • Simmer until beans are tender, around 3 hours.
  • Puree 2 cups of soup and return to pot.
  • Add wine vinegar and liquid smoke.
  • Mix well.
  • Taste; add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Reviews

  • “While I didn’t find this exactly like the Campbells version, it is very close, and is an excellent soup. I will definately make it again.”

  • “wow!this is just like the campbells soup! it was my first attempt at bean soup and i will not be looking for any other recipes……i love it!!!”

  • “I made this recipe exactly the way it was written. The aroma was like bean and bacon and while the taste wasn’t bad, it didn’t taste anything like Campbell’s Bean and Bacon, my all time favorite canned soup. So for me it was disappointing. My main problem was the bacon… who wants to eat big strips of boiled bacon fat? I cooked it with it then took it out before serving. There was no note what the others cooks did with it. There was also too much water, the soup was thin even after pureeing the 2 cups. Good try, but I’ll keep on looking. “

  • “I used canned navy beans in this recipe and it was wonderful.Better than Campbell’s!”

  • “This is not exactly like the Campbell’s version, but it is still very tasty.I added a little more smoke flavoring because I liked the flavor.Other than that, I followed the recipe.Thanks for sharing!”

  • “I really liked this soup recipe.Like other reviewers, I used canned navy beans.I also used red wine vinager (all I had) and used onion powder instead of onion.My husband thought this was great, but suggested I add some diced tomatoes and sliced sausage next time.Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!!”

  • “Yummers!”

  • “Yum! We love this soup. The only change I make is to use the precooked real bacon shreds that come in a bag. Actually does taste very similar to campbell’s. I just use my stick blender to partially puree it at the end rather than removing any of it to the blender. Works fine.”

  • “Delicious! I thought this was pretty darned close to Campbell’s. Enough so that I will be making it often. However, I thought adding the bacon RAW was odd so I did fry it up first and I omitted the vinegar. I too used canned beans which worked perfectly. I did a mixture of pinto, navy and great northern beans. 6 cans total! 3 were dumped in whole and the other 3 were pureed than added. Very nice bean flavor and texture throughout.Mmm… Mmm… GOOD!”

  • “This taste nothing like campbells bean with bacon soup. But,it is a good soup..I cooked the bacon in soup pot till browned but still limp.Had more color rather thanin bacon grease…Placed all in the pot. I used red wine vinegar and added 5 drops liquid smoke. When beans were done, I slightly mashed in pot with potato masher. Added 1/2 potato buds to thicken.Used 1 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper…My DH really liked this recipe…”

  • “Great soup!I used canned navy beans (to cut down on the time) and added a little extra bacon…hubby & I each ate two bowls for supper!I served with green onions and croutons.Highly recommended soup!I postd a photo of my bowl of soup. -NELady”

  • “We love soups in the fall and winter. This one is a keeper! It is so much better than any campbells soup. It is homemade with fresh ingredients. My three year old had 2 bowls. I did not use the liquid smoke or red peppper flakes. I added a ham bone with ham on it that gave it a wonderful flavor and more carrots. I also threw in only 2 pieces of bacon and fried up the rest and crumbled it into our soup bowls before serving as another cook did and yes removed the two pieces that were in the soup before serving. Thank you for a great recipe!”

  • “I have made this soup several times. We enjoy it very much. Thanks for posting. I make it in the crockpot and it is perfect. 8-10hrs on low.”

  • “This is a good soup, just not close enough to the Campbell’s.I am searching for a recipe to replicate bean and bacon soup since I am MSG sensitive.”

  • “This is a wonderful bean soup…easy, and one of the best I’ve had.It IS similar to Campbell’s…not spot on, but very close and will satisfy anyone who does enjoy the Campbell’s soup.I think this will become my “go to” navy bean soup recipe. Thank you!A couple of thoughts…the bacon is meant to be minced, as well, and you can certainly make this with already cooked beans, or canned.Also, I guess I didn’t read carefully, but the 2 cups of navy beans are UNCOOKED beans, so the yield on those when cooked would be about 6 cups of beans.That’s why you would want 3 cans of beans if using canned.”

  • “This was pretty darn good.I used canned beans instead due to time.I only used 2 cans.Next time I will use 3 cans.I didn’t have half of the ingredients but even then it was still good.Lets just say there was nothing left at the end of dinner.”

  • “My family really enjoyed this.”

  • “This is the second time I’ve used this recipe and I really like it.I use the pre-cooked & crumbled Hormel bacon from Cosco (1 tbsp = 1 bacon strip) and dried minced onion (1 tsp = 1 small onion).I tripled the recipe (to save some for later in the freezer) and it is harder to get the taste right.I tend to use much more vinegar and liquid smoke.I puree about 1/2 of the soup and only use the minimum water amount.The beans did take closer to 4 hours (due to the amount of soup I was cooking).It doesn’t taste EXACTLY like Campbell’s, but then again, you don’t have all of the preservatives and salt either.: )”

  • “Campbell’s bean and bacon soup is my favorite soup. However, I would rename this soup and not calling it a copycat.This soup was very, very good and I have been asked on many occasions to make it agian. So instead of calling it a copycat I would call it better than. I also have added potato to this for a more stew like meal. “

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